Intellectual property days

11th June 2014

London is the venue for the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) international summit on IP enforcement at Central Hall in Westminster on June 11 and 12.

Speakers included Juan Hardoy, director EMEA anti-piracy and digital crime at Microsoft; Nathalie Chasques, European senior brand protection manager, Moet Hennessy Group, Europe; Rob Wainwright, director of Europol; Kieron Sharp, director general of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT); and Jeff Hardy, director of the ICC (Interneational Chamber of Commerce) Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP); Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, and representatives from the National Crime Agency, Interpol, and companies including Google, Gucci and Unilever.

The City of London Police’s specialist Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) was represented, with Adrian Leppard, the City of London Police Commissioner, and Commander Steve Head, talking about enforcing rights and protecting consumers. The force points to the PIPCU’s investigations and seizures, including the suspension of over 2500 websites selling counterfeit goods and the arrest of those involved in distributing counterfeit CDs. PIPCU is investigating more than £30m of IP crime.

The summit will look at the international IP enforcement challenges and measures needed to tackle amongst other things, counterfeiting and piracy. It will also look at protecting the rights of creators, rights holders and consumers in an age of global, digital trade.

Adrian Leppard, said: “The Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement Summit is a great opportunity to share best practice with government, IP offices and law enforcement around the world. We look forward to learning from our international partners so we can move forward and make a real impact to IP crime in the fast-moving digital age. IP crime is a global problem that is costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each and affecting hard-working people’s livelihoods. City of London Police is leading the way our specialist Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), the only dedicated unit to IP crime in the UK. Working in collaboration with industry, this unique unit is dedicated to using new and innovative strategies with traditional policing methods to prevent and disrupt online IP crime, arrest offenders and inform consumers.”